The Perks of Being with You
by Harleenm
Summary: When his father is sent to Azkaban, Draco Malfoy only wants to protect himself and his mother from Voldemort. So he turns to the Order for help. But when the Order decides to put him under the same roof with Hermione Granger, things start to get complicated. But perhaps, that's a chance for them to discover another side of each other. Hermione Granger x Draco Malfoy


**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

Draco Malfoy was sitting in an armchair, lost in his thoughts. He never thought that it would have come to that. But there he was, consorting with the enemy.

"So, Mr Malfoy. Are you willing to collaborate with us?" A voice brought him back to reality. He lowered his head and clenched his fists.

"I have conditions."

"Of course you do." Said Kingsley, in an amused tone.

Draco lifted his chin, keeping his back straight. Even in those conditions, he was not going to bend to anyone.

"First, very few people will know about this. Only the strictly necessary." He waited for Kingsley to nod. "Second, I want protection, for me and my mother."

Kingsley nodded slowly, he got up from his armchair and stared at the fireplace.

"Of course, we will provide you protection. However, unless your mother comes to us. We cannot guarantee her safety."

"You see, the Dark Lord is very… upset with my family right now. My mother thought that it would be best for me to spend my summer away from my house. She asked me to stay at one of my friends'. She doesn't know I'm here."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, for now she's safe. But when the time come, she will need protection, I want her to get it."

"Very well, Mr Malfoy."

"I also need a place to stay."

"Yes, I figured that much. Well we don't have the order's headquarters anymore, there is the Burrow with the Weasleys," Draco grimaced. "But they already have a lot to worry about… And we don't want to bring attention to ourselves."

Draco grew impatient, giving Kingsley a bored look. There was no way he would stay with the Weasleys. He'd probably be better treated with Voldemort himself. Kingsley started to snap his fingers, as if he had just had an idea.

"I know. You'd be better in a muggle neighbourhood." Draco narrowed his eyes. What? He wanted to put him with Potter? He was really starting to regret his decision.

"I'm pretty sure Miss Granger will be only happy to help us." Granger? Granger? No way. No. Fucking. Way.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He said between teeth.

"Well Mr Malfoy, this is not a Caribbean Holiday. We're in war. We all must do sacrifices." Kingsley said dryly. Draco closed his eyes, massaging his temples. "It's only for two months, it won't kill you. But if you refuse, well, I can't guarantee that."

Draco sighed heavily. He knew Kingsley was right, or maybe not, maybe Granger would try to kill him in his sleep.

* * *

"WHAT? No, no, no, no, no... No, no, no way... No."

"I'm sorry, was that a "Yes" or a "No"?" He joked.

"I can't do this! Why me? Draco Malfoy has been awful to be. He hates me."

"I know that it's not ideal, but… He has to stay somewhere."

"But why? Why me? I don't know why I should help him."

"Well, we better keep a low profile, and a muggle neighbourhood is ideal. You told us that your parents aren't home for the summer." He grabbed gently her shoulders. "He has valuable information for us. I remember you saying that you wanted to help the order."

"Yes, and you said I was too young."

"Well… Now you're nearly seventeen. And, you will not be putting yourself in danger. I know you will do whatever it takes to win this war, to help your friend Harry."

Hermione sighed, Kingsley was right. She needed to do everything in her power to help Harry, to help anyone. Even if she had to tolerate Malfoy for two months. It was a safe mission, or maybe not, maybe Malfoy would try to kill her in her sleep.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was standing in front the garden gate of a beautiful suburban house. It was nothing like he was used to, and to be honest, he hated to be among muggles. He studied the house for a moment, it was charming and elegant. The garden was well maintained and very green, with some flowers along the path leading to the house. It wasn't a mansion like his own, but it wasn't a small house either. He sighed, waking down the path. He knocked twice.

The front door opened to show a very moody Hermione Granger. Well, he wasn't going to be the one breaking the ice. He gave her the same dark glare she was giving him.

"Are you going to let me in, Granger?" He finally asked. She remained silent for a few moments before making him a sign to come inside.

 _"Don't think_ I'm doing this from the bottom of my heart, Malfoy. You'd better give us real information. Follow me." She stated as she leaded him to his bedroom. "I have some rules. First, if you're staying in my house you ought to respect me, I don't want to hear any words such as "mudblood" or any insult towards Harry or Ron. Second, I don't have a house elf, so you are going to help me with the chores… You're breaking rule number one, Malfoy!" She said when she saw him mimicking her. He stopped and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, Granger. Make me your fucking slave. I know you dream of it."

"I wouldn't wish slavery for my worst enemy. This is your room."

"That's so Gryffindor of you." He mocked before getting inside the room. It was a spacious room, or maybe it was due to the lack of furniture. It had a simple double bed with two nightstands on each side, a wardrobe and a small study table. At least, it was clean.

"Needless to say that you'll be responsible of cleaning this bedroom." She said leaving the room.

"Granger?" He called, making her turn around.

"Yes?"

"Where are the candles? Am I supposed to be in the dark?"

She placed her hand on the switch sliding it up and down.

"It's not rocket science, Malfoy." She said, before leaving the bedroom with a grin on her face.

Draco let his body fall on the bed. What would his mother say if she knew where he was? What would Voldemort do? Probably kill him and his mother for treason. It was maybe a good idea to stay where he was, away from the wizarding world. Keeping a low profile. None of his friends had accepted to host him, probably fearing for their lives. Even Crabbe and Goyle whose fathers were in Azkaban like his own. However, his mortal enemy had accepted to take him in. He laughed at the irony of it before allowing his eyes to close, he felt so tired. All he wanted was a good night of sleep, and his bed wasn't that bad, for something made by muggles that is.

* * *

The next day, he woke up with the sun burning his face through the window. He still had the same clothes that he had the night before. Even if his stomach was growling, what he really needed was to have a bath. So, he got up grabbing his clothes and left his bedroom, looking for a bathroom. When he finally found one, he closed the door behind him and undressed himself.

He plugged the drain and let the hot water fill the bathtub. Once the tub was filled he climbed inside and closed his eyes. He let his mind wander, but refused to think about the war, about his mother, about where he was. He needed to relax. His stomach growl one more time and Draco hoped Hermione had some decent food.

Suddenly, the bathroom door was opened, and a bushy hair girl wearing nothing but a very short pyjama shorts and a small tank top entered the room. Hermione yawned not seeming to notice that she wasn't alone. She went to the bathroom sink and grabbed her toothbrush. Draco who was watching the whole scene, didn't know exactly what to do.

"I'm in here Granger." Hermione let out a cry of surprise and fast covered her eyes with her hands.

"Don't you know how to lock a door, Malfoy?" She screamed.

"Don't you know how to knock a closed door?" He replied angry.

She managed to find her way out of the bathroom without looking at him and closed the door fast behind her. Blushing, she ran towards her bedroom. When she got there, she burst into laughter. The scene of Draco Malfoy naked in her bathtub was priceless. Not that she had seen much, his body was mostly covered with foam. Still, it wasn't something she was forgetting any time soon.

She decided that it was not very wise to walk around in her pyjamas while Draco was staying in her house. So, she put some Levi's jeans and a sky blue top on. She pulled her hair up in a messy bun and went downstairs to take some breakfast. In the kitchen, she saw Draco Malfoy looking inside a cupboard.

"There are some cereal and milk if you want to. But I have to go buy some food."

"Where?" He growled.

"On the table." She said handing him a bowl.

"And the milk?"

"In the fridge." He stared puzzled at her.

"The inox cupboard." He looked around him and then back at her.

"Honestly." She taunted and opened the fridge door. "Fridge, Malfoy. Malfoy, fridge."

He took the milk from the fridge grumbling something that sounded like "stupid muggles" and put some cereal with some milk in the bowl.

"I'm going to the grocery store, now. I won't be long." She left to the living room.

"What? Are you leaving me alone in here?" He asked stunned, following her.

"I won't be long. I need to go or we'll starve. I'd ask you to come with me but, well, I don't want to."

"And what am I supposed to do while waiting for you?" He asked dryly.

"I don't know. You can read a book…" He rolled his eyes. "Or, you can watch television... I don't know Malfoy, I'm not your babysitter!" She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. It was showing an episode of Doctor Who. "Here, watch this." She said before leaving her house.

Draco Malfoy looked suspiciously at the black box showing animated images. He sat down on the couch and started to watch a funny man using some device that looked like a wand, a very weird wand. The show was over and Hermione still hadn't come back home. So, he decided to look around the house.

It was a nice house, well-decorated, clean, well-illuminated - unlike his own - and cosy. He had always pictured her in a very simple house, small and messy. But again, it was Hermione Grange, it couldn't possibly be messy. He wondered if her family was wealthy. Muggle wealthy. He glanced at some photographs on a shelf. The people on the photos weren't moving. It was really weird and boring. He grinned when he saw a photo of a toothless Hermione Granger. She was with a man that was most probably her father. His grin faltered and he thought about his own father, and all he had done. He had put his own family in danger, and for what? Draco felt his fists clench. Suddenly the sound of a door opening reached his ears. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at the intruder.

"Easy, it's just me." Hermione said, holding a food bag. "Can you help me?"

Draco walked towards her and took the food bag from her, putting it on the kitchen island. He started to take the food out of the bag.

"What in Salazar's name is this?"

"Food." She answered dryly.

"No kidding!" He snapped back. "Is something eatable in here?"

"Yes, Malfoy. And I hope you can cook because I'm not doing all the cooking for you."

"I have money, I'll go to a restaurant." He said _condescendingly._

"Wizard money, not worth much here."

"Well, I can't cook!" He said folding his arms.

"In that case, I'll teach you." He rolled his eyes.

"Of course you will. Once a Know-it-all. Always a Know-it all." He grumbled.

"It's not my fault you're useless!" She snapped raising her voice.

"Not useless. Just wealthy."

"And what good is that doing to you now, Malfoy." He frowned. "Come here now, I don't have all day."

He shook his head in disbelief and went next to her.

"Look, this is a match, it's used to make fire."

"Yeah, I know. We had to use this stupid thing in the Quidditch World Cup."

"Good, so you know how to use it. This is a stove…"

"I know what a stove looks like, Granger." He said clearly irritated.

"Yes… Right. So you have to light the gas like this. And then you lit the match. See?"

"Yes."

"Now you take a pan and put some water inside. When the water boils you put the spaghetti inside. You wait 10 minutes and it's done. Don't forget to salt the water." She looked at him, he nodded without taking his eyes from the pan. "Now I bought a Bolognese sauce, you just have to put it in the microwave. That little box in there. Here, you put it inside, press the ON button and wait 40 seconds. Easy-peasy."

"So we are eating Bolognese spaghetti every day?!"

"No Malfoy, I bought other sauces too." She laughed in a mocking way. "For now, you do that. I'll make other foods."

They ate the Bolognese Spaghetti in silence. Draco only said that it tasted nothing like wizarding food, but it didn't stop him from eating twice. When they both finished eating, Draco sat down in front of the television. Hermione grabbed a book and started reading it.

"I'm bored and it's hot like hell. Is there something to do in this place?"

Hermione looked at him. She didn't want to spend any time with Malfoy, but it was really hot.

"There's a lake not far away from here. Not many people go there. It's a good place for swimming."

Draco pondered for a moment before nodding his head yes. "Let's go."

* * *

The lake was very beautiful, with crystalline water. It was surrounded with trees hidding it from the world. They were the only ones in there.

"Only the people who live nearby know about this lake." Hermione commented.

She put a blanket on the ground and sat down, grabbing her book from her bag.

"You're the only person I know who can read a book in a place like this." He rolled his eyes and took his shirt off. Hermione glanced at him and saw his very well-sculpted abs. She flushed and lowered her eyes to her book. Draco plunged into the water. After a few minutes, he started to throw water at Hermione.

"Stop it! You're soaking my book!"

"Make me!"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop being childish, Malfoy."

"You're not fun at all! Do you ever do anything else than to read a damn book?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I do! I have plenty of fun!"

"Yeah right!" He laughed.

"I do!" She insisted.

"Then prove it!"

"I don't have to prove anything to you, Malfoy!"

"I dare you to swim to the other side."

She looked across the lake and smiled at him, "Want to find out who can swim faster?" He shrugged.

"Very well, Malfoy. The loser will make dinner for the rest of the week."

"Ok, Granger. Prepare yourself to be my new personal cook."

Hermione took her top and jeans off. Draco stared at her, she was wearing a red bikini and her skin was tanned. He couldn't stop himself from looking up and down at her body. The only girl he had seen naked was Pansy Parkinson, and she looked nothing like Hermione. Pansy was too skinny while Hermione had curves. He shook these thoughts away from his head. What was he thinking? He couldn't possibly find a mudblood attractive. Hermione plunged into the water, and started swimming to the other side.

"Hey! It hasn't started yet!" He cried out after her. But when he saw that she wasn't coming back, he quickly started to swim after her. He was trying really hard to outdistance her, but she was a very good swimmer. When Hermione reached the other side, she turned around grinning at him.

"I win."

"Cheater." He scowled at her, making her laugh. They both came back slowly to the other side, without saying a word to each other. Hermione wondered if he was really mad at her for doing what she did. She had never been a cheater and had always followed the rules. She glanced at him, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts. It was extremely weird to be with Draco Malfoy like that. She found it hard to believe that that same boy had been awfully mean to her in the past.

"Stop staring at me like that, Granger. It's disturbing!" He snapped, without looking at her. Hermione blushed and lowered her eyes to the water. She hadn't noticed that she was staring at him. They put their clothes back on and where ready to go home when a girl's voice shouted from behind them.

"Hermione, I haven't seen you in a while!" Hermione and Draco directed their eyes to a blonde girl.

"Oh no, not her!" Hermione said.


End file.
